Point Set Team Wins Long Island Mixed Doubles Title, Headed to Sectionals in September
Next stop: Sectionals.
The Mixed Doubles 7.0 team out of Point Set Tennis in Oceanside, captained by Lori Sarnelli and Melissa Thomas, captured the title in the Mixed Doubles 7.0 division at the USTA Long Island Regionals.
“Our depth played a big part as so many players were able to play and win important matches for us,” said Sarnelli. “It was a total team effort which makes it that much better.”
Running 22 players deep, the team consisted of Sarnelli and Thomas, as well as Patricia Siler, Eddie Demirci, Ronald Martinez, Shanon Blue, Leila Miller, Ian Zaslansky, Carlos Rios, Alison Ceraso, Gigi Banks, Thomas Wade, Craig Hirschfeld, David Leach, Catherine Gillett, Brian Connor, Jennifer Narciso, Dora Wu, James Helburn, Lauren Helburn, Laura Crain and Laura Altman.
The team relied on that depth as it approached the crucial final stretch of the season. In order to finish atop the league and earn the top seed in the playoffs, the team led by Sarnelli and Thomas needed to play its best tennis.
“We won 43 of a possible 45 points in the final five matches to secure first place,” said Sarnelli. “Then we played five different team combinations of the six playoff courts that we fielded en route to the Long Island Championship.”
Up next for the team from Point Set is the Sectional Championships, which are set for September 20 through September 22 in Schenectady.
“My team and I are super excited and looking forward to competing at Sectionals this year,” Sarnelli added. “As we started to fill out the roster back in September, we really believed we had a chance to make it through a very difficult Long Island bracket and get back to Sectionals.”
